Rich Grogan of Murrells Inlet is working as a sales associate at Sears for about 22 to 24 hours a week on 100 percent commission to help make ends meet for his wife and 2-year-old son.

Grogan, who holds an MBA and an undergraduate degree in finance, has worked for years in management, but his latest job at the United States Bowling Congress was cut in one of the first waves of layoffs last year.

He's now making about one-third of the income he brought in before, but he's happy to have a job.

Grogan is one of thousands of area residents who is considered to be underemployed, which means a person is either working part time when he or she previously worked full time, or that a person is working a full-time job, but using fewer or none of the skills he or she previously used in another career.

Nationwide, about 6 percent of the working population is underemployed, and across the state, about 6 percent, said Don Schunk, a research economist at Coastal Carolina University.

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